Blue corn

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blue corn
Hopi Blue Corn.jpg
Art Maize ( Zea mays var. Indurata )
origin United States
breeder W. Atlee Burpee
Breeding year 1902
ancestry

Cross of
sweet corn

Corn on the cob, including the dark blue variety.
Tlacoyo, Mexican starter made from blue corn
Blue corn quesadillas .

Blue corn (also: Hopi maize , Yoeme Blue , Tarahumara Maiz Azul , Rio Grande Blue ) are several closely related varieties of flint corn (Zea mays var. Indurata) in Mexico , the "Southwestern United States" and the "Southeastern United States ”, similar to purple corn . The variety is one of the main types of corn used in traditional southern and central Mexican cuisine as tlacoyo .

The varieties come from the Hopi , the Pueblo Indians of Rio Grande in New Mexico, as well as several tribes in the southeast, including the Cherokee . In Hopi dishes such as piki bread , corn is an essential ingredient. Blue Corn Meal (flour) is ground from whole grain and has a sweet taste. It is often used in New Mexican Cuisine to make tortillas .

Varieties

Five different Hopi Blue Corn cultivars were described in the 1950s. They showed clear differences in certain characteristics such as plant height, core weight, core diameter and core thickness. The different varieties have color differences between almost black to blue-gray and are named as “standard” blue ( sakwaqa'o ), hard blue ( huruskwapu ) and gray-blue ( maasiqa'o ).

The traditional Hopi Blue Corn varieties are extremely drought tolerant, deep-rooted and relatively low plants, rarely taller than 4 to 5 ft (1.5 m). The Rio Grande Pueblo Blue Corn varieties are larger, reaching 5 to 7 feet, but also have higher demands and are not as drought tolerant as the Hopi varieties. Both main tribes prefer deep, sandy soils.

Other original varieties of Blue Corn are Yoeme Blue , with small pips , low, bushy growth (3 to 4 ft; 1.2 m) and high heat tolerance, a variety of the desert (low desert) found mainly in the Salt River Pima Reservation is grown in Arizona , as well as the northern Mexican variety Tarahumara Maiz Azul of Tarahumara , which is grown in the high deserts on the edge of the Sierra Madre in northern Mexico. Tarahumara Maiz Azul is often used in tortillas and tamales in Mexico, as is tesgüino , a corn beer made by Tarahumara.

A traditional variety of Cherokee from the Eastern Band of Cherokee is called Cherokee White Eagle Corn and is distributed to tribal members by the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank . This is a tall variety that reaches 5 to 7 ft (2.1 m) in height, but is equally demanding.

ingredients

In 100 g of tortillas made from blue corn (Sakwavikaviki) the protein content is 7.8%, compared with 5.7% in tortillas made from yellow corn.

Anthocyanins

The varieties also differ greatly in the content of anthocyanins , the polyphenol pigments, which give the grains their unique color. Anthocyanins have a high proportion of cyanidin 3-glucosides , pelargonidin and peonidin 3-glucosides .

Further use

In addition to the traditional dishes of the Southwest, blue corn is also used commercially in products such as blue corn chips and blue corn pancake mix .

Symbolic meaning

The Hopi used corn in religious rituals, incorporating the blue corn into a system of directional relationships in which the yellow corn was connected to the northwest; blue corn was associated with the southwest; red corn with the southeast; white corn with the northeast; black corn with the upper one and all-colored corn with the lower one.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ D. Soleri, D. Cleaveland: Hopi Crop Diversity and Change. In: Journal of Ethnobiology. Society of Ethnobiology 1993, vol. 13, 2: 203-231 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Duane L. Johnson, Mitra N. Jha; ed .: Jules Janick, James E. Simon: Blue Corn. In: New Crops. John Wiley & Sons, New York 1993: 228-230 . ISBN 0-471-59374-5
  3. ↑ About Us .
  4. ^ Gwen McKee, Barbara Moseley: Best of the Best from New Mexico Cookbook: Selected Recipes from New Mexico's Favorite Cookbooks. Quail Ridge Press 1999 ISBN 978-0-937552-93-3
  5. ↑ D. Soleri, D. Cleaveland: Seeds of strength for Hopis and Zunis. In: Seedling. vol. 10, 4: 13-18.
  6. ^ A b Rio Grande Blue Corn New Mexico Farming Conference .
  7. ↑ Tarahumara Maiz Azul - Native Seeds Search .
  8. ↑ Yoeme Blue - Native Seeds Search .
  9. ↑ Zea mays (Yoeme Blue Corn) - Backyard Gardener . September 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ Zea mays (Tarahumara Maiz Azul Corn) - Backyard Gardener . September 21, 2016.
  11. ↑ Seed Bank Plant Listing .
  12. ↑ Basic nutrition report per 100 grams: 35239, tortilla, blue corn, Sakwavikaviki (Hopi) . US Department of Agriculture, National Nutrient Database; Standard Reference 28. 2016. Archived from the original on May 31, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  13. ↑ Basic nutrition report per 100 grams: 18449, tortillas, ready-to-bake or -fry, corn, without added salt . US Department of Agriculture, National Nutrient Database; Standard Reference 28th 2016. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  14. ↑ a b A. N. Nankar: Quantitative and qualitative evaluation of kernel anthocyanins from southwestern United States blue corn. In: B. Dungan, N. Paz, N. Sudasinghe, T. Schaub, FO Holguin, RC Pratt: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 2016, vol. 96, 13: 4542-52 [doi = 10.1002 / jsfa.7671] pmid = 26879128.
  15. ↑ Earl Aronson: Blue Corn: A Food Fad Lasting for Centuries. In: Los Angeles Times. December 1, 1990.
  16. ↑ Alexander M. Stephen; Elsie Clews Parsons: Hopi Journal of Alexander M. Stephen. Columbia University Press, New York: 1936 Online 961, 1191.
  17. ^ Louis A. Hieb: Hopi World View. In: Alfonso Ortiz: Handbook of North American Indians. vol. 9, Southwest; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 1979: 577-580. "The Hopi cultural construction of space is a quadripartite one to which are added 'up' and 'down'. ... From this middle place paths of cornmeal radiate outward to the six directions and various objects (including ears of corn, ...) are added according to their position in the system of correspondences. "